Photo of the Week: Mt Yasur Eruption, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Mt Yasur is the most accessible live volcano in the world, with eruptions every five to ten minutes. The 15-minute trek to the crater increases the prospects of a shortened life, but that’s why thousands make it.

Photo of the Week: Cheetahs Posing, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Two cheetahs standing ready and vigilant in the rays of another remarkable day at the Selous Game Reserve, the largest ‘unscathed’ game reserve in Tanzania and a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site.

Photo of the Week: Boats Bob in the Waters of Melissani Lake, Kefalonia, Greece

Melissani Lake is a pool of still water in a natural cave. Given the breathtaking beauty of the caves, they have always been an ideal site for rites associated with the divine.

Photo of the Week: the Dazzling Colours of Sunset, The Maldives

As the waves of the Indian Ocean gently lap at your feet and the beach's slowly cooling sands, the sun’s last rays of the day paint the sky with a beautiful range of colours and tones.

Photo of the Week: Beautiful Waters of the Bocas Islands, Panama

There is a unique vibe about the Bocas del Toro archipelago in far west Panama, the true gateway to the country for overlanders from Costa Rice. It's a bohemian calypso feel that even the hardest at heart will enjoy.

Two 16th-century monuments of the Durbar Square of Patan on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami (the birth anniversary of Krishna), when thousands of pilgrims and devotees pay homage at a temple.

Photo of the Week: Fire-Knife Dancing in Samoa

Siva Afi, or fire-knife dancing, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of Samoan festivities. Although a traditional pre-war ritual that was used to psych up Samoan warrior, it is today a demonstration of agility.

Photo of the Week: The Church of Tisco, Arequipa, Peru

Tisco is one of the highest settlements in Peru's Colca Valley. This church, built before the 18th-century expulsion of Dominican monks Its geographical location, is distinguished by its red décor, made with ochre.

At Aniquem, Peru’s only rehabilitation center for child victims of serious burns, the human spirit on bold display and reinforces the notion in a traveler that our hearts beat the same wherever we are.

The children of Chinese migrant workers do not necessarily have the same opportunities as resident kids. So many of them attend special schools created for them by their community. This is an eye-opening account of the complex context and experience of an American family’s visit to a Chinese migrant workers’ school.

The author first heard about the Experience Challenge through colleagues who had participated in an earlier trip. The story she brought back from her time in Ghana with AfriKids’ Blue Sky Travel Ltd. was one about people. And it was one she was not prepared for emotionally.

Not all volunteer travel experiences are bad, so it’s up to the industry to tell the truth about voluntourism and start weeding out the bad apples. Only by creating a set of standards that can guide travelers toward organizations doing voluntourism right can the industry transform its reputation.

A donor trip to Nepal bears witness to the work of Maiti Nepal in its fight against human trafficking, the heartbreaking tragedy of which is enormous in a country suffering from poverty, illiteracy and now recovery from major natural disaster.

The Responsible Safari Company and Youth for Development and Productivity are designing a Homestay Initiative through which guests can experience authentic village life in Malawi. With that in mind, I decided to experience a village homestay in Malawi myself.

This post is part of my Editor’s Note in “Adventures Less Ordinary: How to Travel and Do Good,” a free guide to mindful adventures. Drawing on the combined expertise of two dozen leading voices advocating for travel that makes a difference, it is a guide for compassionate people seeking the ultimate adventure – one guided as much by the good you give as the good you get.

This is a classic feel-good tale featuring an especially unlikely cast of characters: an African travel company, a UK-based handmade-bag manufacturer, a doctor, a boatbuilder, a community-based organisation in Malawi and the people on the shores of Lake Malawi it supports, especially the kids of a primary school.

We suggest that you DO NOT take one of the so-called favela safari tours in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. What you’ll get is something like a soldier’s view of Baghdad or Belfast during the most troubled times in those two cities, which is not at all the reality of the favelas. We have a much better idea: keep things to a small scale and travel on foot with a tour guide from the favela itself, not an outsider. You can be a warmly welcomed visitor.

Years of war and corruption have left the breathtaking landscape of Nicaragua pitted with pockets of poverty. In the United States, 4Walls Project has for the past five years been helping to build safe, sustainable housing for underprivileged families in El Sauce, sleepy cowboy town. What started as a two-woman project has quickly blossomed into a yearly pilgrimage for volunteers from all across the United States.